Mastered (The Enforcers 1)

Knowing that the longer he remained silent and the longer he dragged this out, the worse it would appear, and that it could explode in his face, he kissed her and allowed sincere regret to show. He pulled her down onto the couch so they were seated next to each other.

“I know tomorrow night is our night to eat in with you cooking, but I have a very important business meeting here. I’ll be entertaining my associates in our home. Unfortunately it’s unavoidable, and I promised you that I wouldn’t miss our dinners in unless absolutely necessary. This is one of the rare times when it’s absolutely necessary to meet where we can be assured quiet and privacy.”

Her brow furrowed in puzzlement as she processed his vague statement, and he didn’t miss the disappointment in her eyes nor her attempts to mask her reaction by quickly regaining her composure.

“I understand,” she said, only the slightest tremble in her voice to reveal her emotion. “Maybe we can have a do-over later in the week.”

Damn but he hated what came next. How to ensure she wasn’t present during his meeting without it being obvious he didn’t want her there? He’d broken one of his promises—a vow—he’d made to himself, something unthinkable, by lying to Evangeline. He would not, under any circumstances, break the other promise he’d made that she never be touched by the alternate shadowy life he led.

“I know you didn’t go out last night, so I thought perhaps you’d want to go out on the town tomorrow night. You name it and I’ll make it happen, Angel. Whatever you’d like to do. Quite frankly the meeting will be boring as hell, and I don’t ever expect you to have to suffer strangers and awkwardness in your own home. And you damn sure as hell won’t be expected to please six arrogant bastards who will all be dick-sizing one another during negotiations.”

He didn’t have to fake the pissed-off, inconvenienced act for Evangeline, because he was both. If so much wasn’t riding on this goddamn deal, he’d tell every one of them to go fuck themselves. He never opened his personal residence to anything business related. This was his only sanctuary. And now it was Evangeline’s, and it pissed him off that he had to, in a nutshell, kick his angel out of her own home for the evening and play nice with men he wouldn’t ever want within a mile of his woman.

She bit into her bottom lip, hesitating, obviously immersed in thought. He wished to hell he could read her right now. Ninety-nine percent of the time, she was utterly transparent, her eyes a window to her soul, but this was the one percent of the time when he had no clue what she was thinking or feeling.

He had to hold back her name and the question that would most assuredly be in his voice if he uttered it. Because he knew he would sound uncertain, and he had to play this just right. It was simply a business meeting, and he was offering her the city on a silver platter for the night. He didn’t need to sound like he had a reason to be worried about what she was thinking.

“Tomorrow night is the girls’ night off,” she said softly. “I’d like . . . I need to see them. We haven’t spoken. Not since the night Steph came over here. I—we’ve—let it go on too long. I need to talk to them. I tried to call them while you were out of town. I thought we could grab something to eat, catch up. But I never heard back from them.”

Drake’s lips thinned slightly. Damn it. He wasn’t keen on a reunion with her girlfriends. Not if there was the possibility of them filling her head with a bunch of shit. But at the same time, it offered him the perfect out. She would be happy and he would effectively keep her separate from his business.

“You should go, then,” he said gently.

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You don’t mind?”

He pulled her further into the crook of his arm so she was nestled firmly against him.

“It’s obvious that your estrangement is making you unhappy,” he said.

He stroked his palm over her cheek and then cupped her jaw, feathering his thumb over her satiny skin.

“I want you to be happy, Angel. So if seeing your girls will do that, then I’ll have a man take you over tomorrow evening.”

“Should I plan to stay over with them?” she asked, a little hitch in her breath.

At that he frowned. “Hell no. I’ll tell Maddox to have you back by eleven and if for some reason my meeting goes longer, I’ll let him know, but you will be back here afterward. One night away from you was enough. No way in hell I’m going to spend another without you so soon after being away this time.”